Haverhill woman acquitted of child rape charges

SALEM, Mass. (AP) — A Haverhill woman has been acquitted of raping a 12-year-old boy and giving him a sexually transmitted disease.

Heather Paltinavich was found not guilty Wednesday after about four hours of deliberations by an Essex County Superior Court jury.

Prosecutors alleged the 21-year-old Paltinavich had sex with the boy twice in the summer of 2012 when she was 19 and was staying with the boy's family.

The Eagle-Tribune (http://bit.ly/1ccCfI3 ) reports that the boy's mother became suspicious when the boy was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease.

Paltinavich took the stand in her own defense to say she had never had an STD. Her lawyer said that prosecutors never produced any medical records or evidence that either the boy or the defendant ever had an STD.